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ATHS Member
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Thanks Carl..., yes the Bridgeport Mill is cool, and it's probably from the 50's since it uses Morse #2 collets, etc... It's really a great tool to have...
So here is a quick update...
This past weekend we finally finished up a few remaining items on the frame. These were things that we started but never finished.
The first thing I wanted to tackle was the front bumper brackets. In one of the older posts I mentioned that we were going with the 761 front bumper which meant we needed to used the 700 series brackets. I knew one of the brackets was twisted, and a twisted bracket could ruin the look of a new bumper, especially if it’s chrome. I wanted the brackets to sit flush and true, so I bolted them together for comparison…
Here you can see the twist in the driver side bracket. It was a lot worse, but my Dad managed to straighten some of it out with the press.
I tried to take the ‘twist’ out in the press, but quickly realized I was going nowhere fast (ie ½” steel plate…). Then I tried to hold it in the vice (super deluxe Craftsman…) and that didn’t work either. I knew I needed something substantial for leverage, so I figured why not use another Brockway? So early Saturday morning, I went outside and took a look at the crossmembers of the 761. Sure enough, one of the rear cross members has two holes that lined up with the bracket… (I did think about bolting it the 361 frame, but I didn’t want to take a chance and knock it off of the jack stands…)
After it was bolted down, I ‘C’ clamped an old 2” square homemade snowmobile tie down I made years ago…
With a few tugs, I was able straighten it out. So I lined up both sides again to make sure I twisted it back far enough…
Now that that was done, I lined up the 361 and 760 brackets so you could see the difference between the two…
Although the mounting plates of these brackets look similar, they are actually slightly different. (3) of the (4) holes lined up, but by using these holes, it would have pushed the bumper forward an inch or so. If I lined up the 4th hole, the bumper was right where it should be. So I chucked the brackets up in the mill and milled the (3) remaining holes. This wasn’t an easy task since the brackets was so high in the vice. I had to clamp some additional supports to the bracket for supports while the end mill did it’s work.
After all was said and done I bolted the brackets to the frame to make sure everything lined up…
Two weeks ago when we went to trial fit the bumper, I realized the ‘C’ channel support for the new power steering box was going to hit the bumper. When we stopped at Richie Z.’s garage last weekend, I noticed on one of his parts frames that the ‘C’ channel was notched to clear the bumper as you can see here…
So I decided to notch ours to make everything work…
Then we bolted the bumper on the truck…
Now that we were happy with the bumper brackets, we moved onto the spacers for the fender mounts. As I mentioned before, the original spaces were aluminum and were badly corroded. Both sides of the frame had (2) 1/4" spacers in order to keep the fenders straight. So I bought a piece of 1/2" steel plate and fabricated a spacer for the pass. side.
I then realized the spacer would hit a 1/2" bolt that bolts to one of the angled supports on the inside of the frame. I could have removed the washer to make it work, but I decided to keep it and just mill a small portion away for clearance.
After milling it, I cleaned up it and installed in on the truck…
Then we moved on to the driver side. The driver side is entirely different since it has the ‘C’ channel for the power steering box bolted to the outside of the rail and then another 1/4" angle bracket for support. So in reality, I only needed a 1/4" spacer for the lower bolt in the fender bracket since the top (2) holes were already out 1/2" from the frame. Here is what we started with…
We finished up the driver side fender bracket and moved onto the motor mounts. If you remember, our original mounts were literally destroyed, and Craig M. was able to supply a set of new ones. When we brought them home, I realized the OD of the new mount was 1 1/2" in diameter while the original one was only 1 1/4" in diameter. So I decided to ream the holes out to 1 1/2".
With a little bit of work and some patience, we were able to open the holes up and the new mounts fit perfect…
Well that’s it for now!
www.HUSKIDRIVE.com
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-------->
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Wow!! You've got a Bridgeport mill!! Cool!! ..... But Seriously, seriously good work you guys are doin' there, keep up the good work and God bless ya's!
Carl "Dig it" Besola
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junkmandan (2/10/2010)
I believe it distributes the stress of shock loads [like when hooking to a trailer]. We had a city tractor fleet of about 20 N 750 Fords in Cleveland in the '60s, bought new in '63 and tractor equipped by Manning Equipment in Louisville . With no plates and about a 3" I beam riser under the 5th wheel brackets we had broken crossmember gussets just ahead of the 5th wheel . Sent 'em all back to Valley Ford for warranty .Your right. The plate will keep the frame in square. Just think about some of the long wheel base tractors with light crossmembers. When the tractor is under a heavy trailer and you turn the front wheels to the stop the front axle will turn the frame that way bending the frame to some degree and all time it is turning the frame is trying to be pulled out of square.I have seen them break the flywheel housing from the flexing to the side in a turn on a long wheel base.
glenn akers
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ATHS Member
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| I believe it distributes the stress of shock loads [like when hooking to a trailer]. We had a city tractor fleet of about 20 N 750 Fords in Cleveland in the '60s, bought new in '63 and tractor equipped by Manning Equipment in Louisville . With no plates and about a 3" I beam riser under the 5th wheel brackets we had broken crossmember gussets just ahead of the 5th wheel . Sent 'em all back to Valley Ford for warranty .
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ATHS Member
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The 5th wheel I bought for my B had that plate under it. Wasn't really sure the real reason for it.
Larry
I'm no expert........but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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| I like the idea of installing a 1/4 plate under the fifthwheel. It keeps the grease from getting on the rear axle and the road grime from mixing with the greese. I think I will do the same with the truck I am working on. Morgan Heaton
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---->
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New on here, and looked back to what you had to start with. It looks amazing thus far.
10-4 Magazine, for Today's trucker!
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ATHS Member
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Thanks for all the comments... Here is another update!
The last two weekends we have been working on the mounting brackets for the 5th wheel. A while back we made the outside frame brackets out of 3" x 1/4" angle, and now we were working on the inside frame brackets.
I lined the 5th wheel up 6" ahead of the centerline of the axle and one of the mounting holes wound up in a front hole of the last crossmember. So I had to notch the angle I was using. Here is a pic of the driver side after I notched it...
Here is a pic of it in place...
Then we moved onto the pass side bracket. This one also had to be notched but I also had to make room for the torque arm...
After everything lined up, I took it off and did the final welding...
Then we moved onto the outside brackets and drilled the holes to mount the 5th...
After that, I bolted everything together to take a final look. It's hard to describe, but you can see 2" angles that are 5" long that I welded to the inside brackets. I also drilled 1/4" holes in them to mount line clamps for future air lines, wiring, etc...
We wanted to put a solid plate under the 5th similar to the one on my 155W. So I picked up a piece of 1/4" steel that was slightly bigger than what I needed. Someone else must had ordered it and never picked up up, so I got a good deal on it...
I don't have a plasma cutter yet, so I used a 3" cutoff wheel to make the cuts. Sure its tedious and time consuming, but it sure makes a nice clean cut that only needs minimal filing when done...
After the plate was cut and filed, we set if back on the frame...
Then I marked the inside holes and my Dad drilled those...
After I put everything back together I realized my inside holes didn't line up like I thought... Not really a big deal, but I had to mill the holes in the 5th wheel risers just a little longer..
Then we slid the 5th wheel out from under the truck and started to look up some info on it. There is a lot of info on Hollands website, and we found rebuild instructions, etc. It turns out the 5th was made in May of 1987, and we believe the truck was taken out of service in 1989 or so. All the bushings, etc. appear to be tight, but I probably will replace the ones in the risers. I did find a few sets on Ebay fairly reasonable.
After taking all the guts out of the fifth, we brought the cherry picker over and lifted it in place.
So that's were we left off Saturday night... I'm probably going to move back on to the front bumper brackets next (for the 761 bumper). One of the brackets is twisted a little and it's tough to straighten out since its' made from 1/2" plate. So hopefully this week we can get that straightened out.
That's it for now!
www.HUSKIDRIVE.com
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It looks like someone is building a supersized 1/25 scale model. Superb work so far! ............drool............
Larry
I'm no expert........but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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| hi, Looks like your little helpers are hard at work. My little helper backed himself right into a pan of drain oil Saturday. I tried to find your thread on your first truck on Huskidrive, but couldn't find but a post here and there. You keep excellent documentation of your restoration. Thank you!! Morgan
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